GMHC is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS. We provide prevention and care services to men, women and families that are living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS in New York City. We advocate for scientific, evidence-based public health solutions for hundreds of thousands worldwide. Our mission: GMHC fights to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected. Visit www.gmhc.org.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. in the 32nd year of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

by Marjorie J. Hill, PhD, CEO, Gay Men's Health CrisisOn January 15, 2013,
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have been 84 years old. We wonder
what he would have thought about six gay men, who later became our founders,
and their friends who gathered in a living room in 1981, and began what would
become the first AIDS service organization the world, Gay Men's Health Crisis.

We wonder what Dr. King would have
thought about the HIV/AIDS epidemic now in its 32nd year and the social
injustices that are still intrinsically linked to it, including homophobia,
stigma, discrimination, poverty, racism, sexism, lack of access to health
care--and sadly more.

Dr. King and the activists before
and after him offer us a profusion of extraordinarily courageous activism to
continue to live by and learn from. With each step we take to fight social
injustices, one powerful undercurrent remains constant--the importance of
service to others. Dr. King taught us, "Life's most persistent and urgent
question is: What are you doing for others?"

GMHC was built on the foundation of
serving others through the drastic times and the persistent times. That small
group of volunteers came forward and bravely struggled to piece together
responses to this developing plague when very little response was coming from
government officials and elsewhere. Decades later, thousands of volunteers,
staff members, board members and supporters have walked our hallways to help
those dying of AIDS, to now help people to live with HIV and AIDS. Thirty years
ago, we could only provide basic prevention education to people of all racial,
gender and sexual identities. Now we offer extended community outreach and HIV
testing. Our advocacy for the rights of treatments and funding now includes
advocacy for the rights to housing, food and healthcare.

Our expanded work continues. GMHC's
mission "to fight to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all
affected" reflects the civil rights movement at its core. We remain more
committed and vigilant to reduce new HIV infections, care for those living with
HIV and AIDS, and fight for human rights for all those affected by HIV and
AIDS. As Dr. King once declared, "All labor that uplifts humanity has
dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking
excellence."

During this time of reflection on
King's birthday, we join President Obama by encouraging everyone to be of
service to others, particularly on Saturday, January 19, National Day of
Service, and afterwards. To volunteer at GMHC, please visit gmhc.org, and
throughout the country, visit serve.gov.